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Gridcensus

EC Near Rantoul

Greenfield

Champaign, Illinois · MISO

DC Readiness
58.8
Good / 100

At a glance

EC Near Rantoul is a greenfield datacenter candidate site in Champaign, Illinois, scoring 58.8/100 DC Readiness — 19th of 44 scored sites in the county. It sits in the MISO grid region and the EASTERN ILLINOIS ELEC COOP service territory, where interconnection has averaged 4.8 years from request to operation.

Power & interconnection

LMP zonePJM_COMED
Wholesale LMP$33.95/MWh
Utility commercial rate0.11¢/kWh
UtilityEASTERN ILLINOIS ELEC COOPcooperativemoderate to large load · state default

Speed to power

Interconnection outlookConstrained
≈ 6.1 yrs typical interconnection wait

Deep queue and long historical waits — plan for a multi-year interconnection timeline and engage the utility early.

ISO / RTO regionMISO
Queue depth277
Avg queue wait4.8 yrs
Recent queue wait6.1 yrs
Completion rate21%
Withdrawal rate79%

Connectivity

Nearest IXPWintek Corporation
IXP distance72.2 mi
Fiber providers7
Fiber coverage81.7%
Nearest cloud providerAzure
Nearest cloud regionnorthcentralus
Cloud region distance117.0 mi

Site characteristics

Site typeGreenfield
Land contactChampaign County Assessor
Land owner typeprivate
Buildability65.0/100
Land cover (NLCD)Cultivated Crops
Former usenear retired oil plant (10km)

Risk & environment

Environmental constraintNone (0/100)
Flood zoneZone X
Water stress (WRI)0.60
Wetlands (NWI)Clear
Critical habitatClear
Superfund nearbyClear
Hazard sub-score65/100
Construction cost index112.1 (avg 100)

Location context

Nearest datacenterNCSA Petascale Computing Facility
DC distance10.6 mi
Nearest rail3.0 mi
Nearest gas pipeline4.2 mi
Nearest fiber route101.7 mi
County hazard (FEMA NRI)Relatively High (35)
DC tax incentiveYes (sales_tax_exemption)
Commercial electricity10.69¢/kWh
Industrial electricity6.02¢/kWh
Cooling degree days1,100
Heating degree days5,600
Land price / acre$7,187

Regulatory climate

Restrictivestate posture · as of 2026-08

New-DC state tax exemptions suspended for 2 years (from Jul 2026).

DC tax incentiveNo / suspended

Incentive detail: Enterprise Zone sales tax exemption; High Impact Business designation for $12M+ DC investments.

Site location

◆ Loading map…
≥ 7560–7540–60≤ 40
This site + 8 nearby

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How does EC Near Rantoul compare with other sites in Champaign?

EC Near Rantoul ranks 19th of 44 scored candidate sites in Champaign. Its 58.8/100 is roughly in line with the county average of 58.1. It is roughly in line with the Illinois average of 54.3 and about 11% above the national average of 53.2.

Against the Illinois average, its strongest sub-score is natural hazard (65 vs 63) and its weakest is power availability (30 vs 37). Power and speed to power each carry 20% of the composite score, fiber 12%, water 7% and hazard 6%.

How close is EC Near Rantoul to power, fiber and other datacenters?

The nearest located transmission bottleneck is 12 DRESDEN 45TR81 CT H 345 KV (PJM), 79 miles away. For connectivity, the nearest internet exchange facility is Wintek Corporation at 72.2 miles. 7 fiber providers report service at the location in FCC broadband data. The closest operating datacenter on record is NCSA Petascale Computing Facility, 10.6 miles away.

What are the flood, water and hazard risks at EC Near Rantoul?

The site is in FEMA flood zone X, outside the Special Flood Hazard Area (minimal or moderate flood risk). WRI rates baseline water stress at 0.60 on a 0–5 scale. No mapped wetlands are recorded on the parcel. At the county level, FEMA's National Risk Index rates Champaign "Relatively High".

Full DC Readiness breakdown

All 13 weighted sub-scores (0–100) behind the composite DC Readiness score.

Power availability20%
30
Speed to power20%
47
Fiber connectivity12%
71
Energy cost10%
87
Water risk7%
86
Natural hazard6%
65
Buildability7%
65
Labor market4%
50
DC cluster4%
85
Land / acreage3%
40
Construction cost3%
57
Gas pipeline2%
86
Tax incentive1%
100
Climate / cooling1%
70

Nearby comparable sites

Other scored datacenter candidate sites in Champaign, ranked by DC Readiness.

Sites near EC Near Rantoul
SiteTypeVoltageCapacityQueue waitScore
Solar Star Urbana Landfill Community Solar FarmBrownfield—5 MW4.8 yrs66.3
SIDNEYSubstation-Adjacent345 kV600 MW4.8 yrs64.6
RISINGSubstation-Adjacent345 kV600 MW4.8 yrs64.6
EC Near RantoulGreenfield——4.8 yrs61.6
OZ ChampaignGreenfield——4.8 yrs61.6
EC Near University of Illinois Abbott Power PltGreenfield——4.8 yrs61.2
EC Near University of Illinois Abbott Power PltGreenfield——4.8 yrs61.0
University of Illinois Abbott Power PltBrownfield—3 MW4.8 yrs59.8

EC Near Rantoul: common questions

What is the DC Readiness score of EC Near Rantoul?

EC Near Rantoul scores 58.8/100 on the GridCensus DC Readiness scale, rated good. It ranks 19th of 44 scored sites in Champaign. The Champaign average is 58.1 and the Illinois average is 54.3.

Which electric utility serves EC Near Rantoul?

EASTERN ILLINOIS ELEC COOP (cooperative) holds the retail service territory that contains the site.

What grid region is EC Near Rantoul in?

EC Near Rantoul is in the MISO region. Projects interconnecting there have averaged a 4.8-year wait from queue request to operation.

Is EC Near Rantoul in a flood zone?

The site is in FEMA flood zone X, outside the Special Flood Hazard Area (minimal or moderate flood risk).

Who owns EC Near Rantoul?

Parcel records list the owner as AMEREN ILLINOIS COMPANY (private land).

How far is EC Near Rantoul from an internet exchange?

The nearest internet exchange facility is Wintek Corporation, about 72.2 miles away; 7 fiber providers report service at the location.

Related pages

About this data

Source: GridCensus composite of HIFLD transmission and substation data, EIA, FEMA National Risk Index, FCC broadband data, PeeringDB and ISO interconnection queues, as published October 10, 2026 — GridCensus refreshes it monthly. See the methodology for how records are matched, cleaned and scored.

Cite as: GridCensus, “EC Near Rantoul, Champaign, IL”, https://gridcensus.com/datacenter-sites/illinois/champaign/ec-near-rantoul-72c914ec (data as of October 10, 2026).

Dataset updated . Screening estimates derived from public data sources.

Figures are screening estimates derived from public infrastructure data. Catalogued capacity reflects theoretical candidate capacity, not deliverable or committed interconnection. Confirm all values with the utility, ISO, and on-the-ground due diligence.

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